A doomer’s crypto investment strategy

We all know it’s coming. The apocalypse will someday arrive. I say that slightly tongue-in-cheek because, of course, everyone likes to joke about the apocalypse. But at the same time, the kinds of doomsday scenarios that you see in dystopian, apocalyptic movies are not that far fetched in many of our minds. Especially those of us who want to maintain our sovereign freedom today—and no matter what kind of apocalyptic future the world may be headed toward.

Doomers, preppers, and survivalists start looking a little less tinfoil-y when you observe things like California’s annual rolling grid blackouts as, allegedly, the only reasonable way of deterring rampant fires. It’s also hard to ignore when a single winter storm can knock out the Texas grid, creating a power crisis that causes nearly $200 billion in damage. And don’t get me started on supply chain issues caused by COVID. Despite living in a technological age, there are some basic things like food, electricity, and water that are surprisingly precarious for those of us who don’t hunt, farm, and self-sustain Swiss Family Robinson style.

Some of these issues have potential solutions in crypto and blockchain. Bitcoin miners want to improve the Texas grid, and tokenization could smooth out supply chain issues. Though many sovereign-seekers prefer to take a rational and stoic approach to bracing for the future, that doesn’t mean they have to go full crying wojack and lie down under the pressure of nihilism.

Sovereign-seeker terms

When thinking about how every sovereign person can and should prepare and make an investment strategy for the future, there are some helpful distinctions to make. After all, not everyone needs the same strategy or has the same reasons. On top of that, many people have varying ideas about what certain labels mean. That’s okay. For our purposes, this is how we’re using the terms.

Prepper — a pretty widely used term that most people understand. Preppers tend to gather supplies, skills, and resources for the likely possibility that civilization will be disrupted at best, and destroyed at worst. 

Doomer — a version of preppers, doomers are often self-proclaimed pessimists when it comes to the future outlook of society. Many of them fear peak oil, which would likely bring a fracturing of modern civilization.

Survivalist — is more of an umbrella term for anyone who actively prepares for emergencies and the disruption of civilization. From political, to natural, social, and economic turbulence, survivalists want to be ready.

Accelerationist — while most preppers and survivalists brace for what may come, they’re not all cheering for it. Accelerationists view society as so damaged that it’s better to just get on with the inevitable collapse and rebuild after the fact.

Collapsitarian — similar to accelerationists, collapsitarians foresee societal collapse as an inevitability. Financial, political, social, and economic collapse are all likely. Often, collapsitarians don’t even want to rebuild. They want complete sovereignty in the form of anarchy.

TEOTWAWKI — this one is pretty simple: the end of the world as we know it.

SHTF — when SHTF (shit hits the fan), you know you YOYO.

YOYO — you’re on your own.

Bug out — sometimes you just need to get out of dodge. Being ready to bug out means you’re ready to go, whenever, and wherever that might lead.

Malthusian catastrophe — if the population were to grow too fast for available resources, you have yourself a Malthusian catastrophe. Population decline is the next step from here.

Intersection of survivalism and crypto culture

If you were around in March of 2020 (you probably were), you know that everyone with a Costco card became a prepper almost overnight, hoarding toilet paper, water, and cleaning supplies. 

YOYO if you need toilet paper during a pandemic. 

FUD surrounding COVID spurred people into a state of high anxiety and animalistic survival instincts, questioning whether this was TEOTWAWKI. In some ways, it was. And, what was once a fringe and tinfoil lifestyle suddenly became a social expectation when an imminent emergency was shoved on society’s consciousness. Meanwhile the #TrueBeliever preppers were sitting in their bunkers rolling their mustaches and laughing at a panic-eyed public.

Preppers, doomers, and survivalists have been around for quite some time. They are ready for the most dire future possible, but not all of them have a favorable attitude towards crypto. Especially if you believe the grid will go down, it might not make sense to create an investment strategy that involves crypto. But don’t get caught off guard.

Side-step dystopia with crypto

Old-school preppers did things like collect MREs and bury gold and rolls of cash in their backyards while they waited for TEOTWAWKI. A few decades ago, that was probably a good enough strategy. But these days, things are different. So many kinds of collapse could happen that no single investment strategy is guaranteed to prepare you for every outcome.

Many of the societal fault lines that threaten to fulfill collapsitrarian prophecies can be patched up with new technologies. That’s not to say there’s no chance of collapse—but it’s no guarantee. It doesn’t take much to plan your investment strategy for a future where digital technology is not the first thing to fall. 

For example, what if the US government creates a CBDC and ushers in a social credit system before the accelerationists get their wish? If you want to know more about how preppers plan their crypto investment strategy, read about it here.

In the meantime, let’s make a hypothetical strategy for preppers, survivalists, and doomers. 

Survivalist investment strategy

A possible investment strategy for survivalists is to only have the crypto that will get you by in the kind of pinch that crypto can get you out of. That sounds vague but imagine a situation where you need to bug out and make fast and dirty transactions, under the radar, on the run with people you don’t know for things you need but no one wants to touch CBDCs or fiat cash. Crypto is your golden ticket.

Prepper investment strategy

Preppers are ready for anything. They have exit strategies on exit strategies. Many of them have diversified their cash into multiple fiat currencies to hedge against any one country’s collapsing, and to avoid needing to exchange in a crisis situation. Having crypto in your investment portfolio is borderless and cannot be censored in the event of capital controls. 

Doomer investment strategy 

It’s true that many doomers see the collapse of financial and economic systems as nearly unavoidable. 

So, maybe you don’t care about hodling Bitcoin in the face of a Malthusian catastrophe. But, blockchain can help solve some of the problems that are putting pressure on society. Contributing to the development of alternative, anti-establishment systems and resources may not be accelerationist, but a doomer seeking a white pill just might see the value. Things like decentralizing the surveillance state, distributing communications and supply chains, and building out the decentralized web will, if nothing else, perpetuate the mindset needed for those who remain to rebuild after a societal collapse.

Conclusion

Even if you’re an accelerationist or a collapsitarian, pushing anti-establishment projects forward like Bitcoin helps back central banks and governments into a corner. It’s not a bad idea. Plus, I think most doomers and preppers would take crypto over accelerationism if it meant they remained sovereign for longer. The ultimate crypto investment strategy for any sovereign person is to keep as many options open as possible. From where I’m standing, crypto only opens options, it doesn’t close them.